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| |  DG DISPATCH - ATS: American Bedrooms Ripe With Asthma-Causing Dust Mites And Allergens By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News
TORONTO, CANADA -- May 10, 2000 -- A huge number of Americans are living in houses where they are virtually surrounded by a fertile nest of allergens that could trigger asthmatic attacks and other allergic reactions, US researchers report. The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), was presented Tuesday (May 9) at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society, in Toronto, Canada. The researchers found that some 20 million homes have concentrations of dust mites -- found primarily in bedding and upholstery on furniture -- that are high enough to kick off an asthmatic reaction in people who have known allergies. Moreover, more than 44 million households have such high concentrations of these microscopic dust mites that the people living there are at risk for breathing difficulties. According to Patrick Vojta, PhD, a senior investigator with the NIEHS, in Washington, DC, the mites found in household dust are a significant problem. But also a cause for concern, is a form of protein given off by cockroaches that is a powerful allergen. As to the argument that cockroaches are somehow entirely related to less hygienic living conditions, Dr. Vojta pointed out that 17 per cent of the households studied had reported problems with cockroaches in the year leading up to the study. The data was based on a study in which more than 800 householders across the US were given extensive questionnaires to understand living conditions in their homes. As an added means of gathering the most precise data, certain areas of each of the houses surveyed were vacuumed to collect samples of dust and other allergens. Cockroach sheddings, Dr. Vojta said, are a much more powerful stimulant of allergic reactions than another common culprit people blame for asthmatic attacks -- cats. As a means of reducing the risk of these dust mites rising to allergic reaction-causing levels, Dr. Vojta said that washing bedding with hot water is usually helpful. Unfortunately, he added, only a minority of people wash their bedding in water that is hot enough (ie. more than 130 degrees Fahrenheit) to kill the dust mites. Covers that seal mattresses help to prevent the spread of allergens around the bedroom, he said, and although these covers are relatively inexpensive, they were seldom used in the studied households. Many people also remove their bedding from the clothes dryer before it is completely dry, which creates a fertile ground for allergens, he said.
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